Nominations are currently being accepted for the STAR awards within the Division of Student Affairs for staff members who have shown excellence in their work. STAR stands for "Staff That Are Remarkable." The awards are presented every spring to staff members who have shown excellence in their position.… Post the First Comment

A group of computer security researchers from Princeton University have discovered a relatively simple way to steal encrypted data from computer hard drives. The method, which undermines storage that was thought to be secure, involves only a can of dust remover.… Post the First Comment

Approximately 3,700 women die from cervical cancer every year, making it the second leading cause of cancer deaths among women around the world. To prevent the risk of cervical cancer, which is caused by the Human Papillomavirus, millions of girls and young women in the United States get vaccinated with Gardasil before becoming sexually active.… 4 Comments

Illinois Senator Barack Obama has been steadily gaining in the polls despite Hillary Clinton's $35 million February fund-raising effort. Most polls show Obama with a slim lead in Texas, the largest of the March 4 states. However, Obama still lags about four percentage points behind Clinton in Ohio, a state where the former first lady enjoyed a 15 percentage point lead three weeks ago.… 1 Comment

An awareness of what one's future holds in terms of health is often a valuable tool in assessing what steps are necessary to ensure well-being. While DNA tests are intended to do just that by allowing patients to make more informed health care decisions, according to recent reports, that is not always the case.… Post the First Comment

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Police fired tear gas Monday to disperse scores of attorneys demanding that President Pervez Musharraf reinstate the chief justice, who has been under house arrest since a sweeping crackdown last year. The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, meanwhile, arrived in Islamabad for talks with Musharraf and the military leadership.… Post the First Comment

SEDONA, Ariz. (AP) - Endorsed by an influential Texas televangelist, Republican John McCain endeared himself to one group of voters but risked alienating another with the pastor's anti-Catholic views. The controversy has been mild so far, but still, every vote counts in a presidential election that is expected to be closely contested.… Post the First Comment

MOSCOW (AP)-Hours after Russia elected a new president, riot police on Monday detained opposition protesters, pro-government youth rallied outside the U.S. Embassy and Russia reduced gas supplies to Western-looking Ukraine. The moves may signal that the president-elect, Dmitry Medvedev, intends to continue the course set by Vladimir Putin, who during his presidency reasserted his country's power abroad while keeping a tight grip on society at home.… Post the First Comment

(U-WIRE) CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -Red and blue flashing lights cut through the green-streaked streets as Sgt. Joan Fiesta of the University of Illinois Police Department sped to an apartment party Friday. Reports said a beer can hurled from the apartment had struck a passerby in the head.… Post the First Comment

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Venezuela and Ecuador ordered troops to their borders with Colombia, denouncing the killing of a rebel leader on Ecuadorean soil. Colombia responded on Monday with charges that documents found at a bombed rebel camp link President Hugo Chavez to the guerrillas.… Post the First Comment

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Snow fell across parts of Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle on Monday, part of a storm system that produced at least two weekend tornadoes and hail as big as softballs. The National Weather Service posted a snow and blowing snow advisory for parts of Oklahoma and a winter storm warning for sections of Arkansas, where 3 to 6 inches of snow was possible.… Post the First Comment

EMORY, Texas (AP) - A weekend ambush left a mother and her two sons dead and the father wounded, a grisly shooting and stabbing attack authorities say was carried out by the family's teenage daughter and the boyfriend her parents disliked. "We feel confident that the motive was the fact that the juvenile daughter and one of the individuals in custody were dating and that the parents were attempting to break the relationship up, which led to the crime that was committed," Rains County Sheriff David Traylor said Sunday.… Post the First Comment

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - The FBI searched a home in Utah and three storage units linked to a man possibly sickened by the deadly toxin ricin that was discovered in his motel room, but remained quiet Monday about what they found. In a statement, the FBI said only that the search had concluded and there was no health threat discovered at the home or the storage units.… Post the First Comment